


What the Cat Dragged In

by lisainthesky



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Saiyuki Miami-verse, Blood, M/M, Miami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 17:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5342738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisainthesky/pseuds/lisainthesky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake probably should have started to worry when all the guy had to say for himself was, "Excuse me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	What the Cat Dragged In

**Author's Note:**

> I go through phases and the last time I read all the Saiyuki fic on the internet, Miamiverse was mostly just an idea and I was too shy to contribute. This time around it's an open multiverse - So exciting! - and I was struck with ideas. Thanks to indelicateink for letting us play in her world, and manicmultitasker for posting her thing (thus helping me work up the guts), 2AM Skype calls, and beta.

Jake stumbled out of Hotwire, grimacing at the heat. His face hurt, and he was sticky with sweat and lube. The fact that it was after midnight had done nothing for the heat or the humidity in the Miami air, and being outside didn't actually feel much different from being in Hotwire. He shoved his winnings into a boot, then pulled off his shirt. It didn't help. With a sigh and a grumble, Jake headed toward his car.

The alley he was about to cut through was almost pitch black, but he could see the streetlights at the other end. His car was parked underneath one, in full view of a bank and it's security cameras. There was no point in taking unnecessary risks with his birthday present unless it was going to get him something, or piss Ulysses off. Since Ulysses was in…shit, Venezuela? Rio? Jake was never sure. Since Ulysses was somewhere for the next two months, Jake planned to keep the Ferrari in good repair. Hopefully that wouldn't change, but Jake could never be sure how Ulysses would push his buttons on any given day, and what sort of fucked up revenge he'd need to take.

Jake was wandering down the alley slowly, trying to see the things laying on the ground before he tripped on them. It was hard, with his eye a little swollen and all the beer and probably dehydration.

A scuffling noise and a clink made Jake look around sharply. He'd kicked plenty of empty bottles out of his way, but the noise this time wasn't him. Straining his eyes in the direction of the noise - fuck, they had only barely adjusted to the light - he went still and listened. It was probably just a bum, hiding behind that dumpster, but there was no need to get cocky and get jumped in an alley tonight. That would suck hard.

The scuffling got louder, and then there was a groan, and a…squish? Jake wrinkled his nose. If it was a bum, he didn't really think he wanted to know what that wet noise was. Jake stepped to his right until his hand hit the grimy wall of the alley, and then he stepped forward, trying to see around the dumpster.

His foot hit something big, heavy, solid. Jake's heart skipped, but he didn't move his foot. Whatever was on his foot felt way too much like a body for him to be comfortable standing in a dark alley alone. 

_C'mon, Jake, don't be a pussy,_ he thought, and licked his lips and forced himself to look down.

The shape at his feet was certainly body-like, so Jake's brain filled in the gaps for his eyes. There was a dead body at his feet. Jake's breath hissed out, and on the next inhale the smell of blood hit him.

Before Jake could panic - or even really process that it was a person, shit, _a body_ \- the shifting, scuffling noise from the dumpster started again. Jake looked over, in time to see a lump of slightly-darker-than-the-alley shift to the side, flopping in a distinctly corpse-like way. It revealed another, much brighter lump, a man slumped against the wall and the dumpster, his white suit covered in blood.

"Oh fuck."

The man's face was pale enough for Jake to see him look up, even in the darkness, although he couldn't make out details. 

"Ah." His voice was calm, but very faint. "Excuse me."

"Fuck!" Jake said with more feeling, and stepped carefully over the body at his feet to go help the man. "Shit, are you okay? I - how much of this blood is yours? Oh, shit…"

The man looked down at his chest in mild surprise. "Ah…I don’t know. Not all of it?"

Jake wondered if that was supposed to be a joke and decided not to ask. "Fuck. Shit, man, can you walk?"

There was a pause. "I…may need some assistance."

Jake nodded, then pulled the guy's arm over his shoulders and heaved. He was pretty light, and able to help some, but once they were up he swayed, leaning heavily on Jake.

"Shit, c'mon," Jake said, pulling him close with an arm around his waist. "I'll take you to the hospital. My car is at the end of the alley."

"Perhaps not the hospital," the man said. "I don't think it's that serious." He gasped sharply as they set off down the alley.

Jake eyed him. "Seriously?"

"It would perhaps be better not to involve the police." His voice was strained.

"I didn't say anything about _cops,_ " Jake said. "Shit, look at where we are. You think they'd do any good?" He paused. "Wait. Why?" They stopped walking, just outside the light at the end of the alley. There was blood in his hair as well as all over his clothes, and Jake had no idea whose it was. He looked really familiar, but Jake couldn't figure it out past all the swelling.

"Well, you see, I just killed two men," he said, and Jake would have thought he was being a smartass, except he sounded just as confused as Jake was.

"Okay," Jake said. "At least it was only two of them." The man didn't laugh. It wasn't a very good joke anyway. He continued, "It was self-defense, right?"

"I suppose the case could be made that they had intended to kill me, yes. But I think that because I also intended to kill them at some point - perhaps not tonight, but at some point - it would be rather a moot point. They simply learned of my plan before I intended for them to do so, and confronted me about it." He paused. "And the police do tend to ask so many questions about who you are and where you're from, and I've found that background checks can be awfully…incriminating."

They looked at each other for a long time while Jake tried to understand. Sure, the words made sense, but overall the little speech just left more unanswered questions, several of which Jake didn't even know how to phrase. 

"Right." Jake turned and continued hauling the man toward his car. "I guess we'll clean you up at my place, and you can answer my questions there."

"Oh, dear," the man said, without a hint of worry in his voice. "Have I run into the police anyway?"

Jake laughed. "I look like a cop to you?" He hit the button to unlock the car as they neared it. The man eyed the car, then looked at Jake, and did absolutely nothing to help keep himself upright while Jake opened the door. Maybe he'd lost more blood than Jake had thought.

"No, I suppose not," he said finally. Jake just snorted and shifted them around until he could deposit the man as gently as possible into the passenger seat.

"Well that's a relief," Jake said and shut the door. He hurried to his side and got in, saying, "Nah, I just figure the guy who saved you from bleeding out in a scummy alley deserves a few answers, is all."

"I see…" He leaned back in the seat as Jake pulled away from the curb. "And what if you don’t like the answers?"

"I just put you in my car after you told me you murdered two guys," Jake said. "You really think I'm gonna back out now?"

 _Besides,_ Jake thought, _I have sex with one of the biggest crime lords in Miami, who also calls himself my father. I haven't got a lot of room to judge._

"Perhaps not," the guy said, and his tone had taken on a thoughtful note.

"What's your name, anyway?" Jake asked.

"Hades."

Jake looked at him. "Seriously?"

He shrugged. "I'm rather fond of it, as stage names go."

It hit Jake, then, why Hades looked so familiar - the dark hair, his pale skin, his blood soaked white suit. "You're the DJ at Hotwire."

"Yes," Hades said, seeming pleased. "And you're Jake Savage."

Jake blinked at him. "I - yeah."

"You learn some of the regulars, in the booth," Hades explained. "Especially the attractive ones."

Jake raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "Well, thanks." It wasn't like Hades was the first psycho to call him pretty.

"You're a very good fighter," Hades said.

"Thanks."

To Jake's mild surprise, Hades didn't mention the fucking. It wouldn't have been completely uncouth, all things considered, and Hades didn't seem like he cared about that kind of faux pas anyway.

"You're not fallin' asleep on me, are you?" Jake asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I suppose I'd better not," Hades said quietly. "Head trauma and all." He did sound pretty drowsy, but at least he was talking. Jake chalked up Hades' complete calm to shock. In retrospect, Jake probably should have started to worry - for both of them - when all Hades had to say for himself when Jake found him covered in blood was "excuse me," but really it just made Jake more curious.

"Yeah, and all," Jake muttered. "We're almost there. Keep talking."

"What would you like me to talk about?"

"I don’t know. Why'd you pick the name Hades?"

Hades hummed. "I suppose I thought it was fitting."

Jake snorted. "Right. The Lord of the Underworld. I suppose you're pale enough. But that could be blood loss."

"Perhaps a bit, but I've always been light-skinned. I don't take to the sun very well."

"The hell're you doin' in Miami, then?" They were pulling up to the gate now. Jake hit a button on his key ring to open it and the garage.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Ah…I'm not sure." At Jake's look, he continued, "I have an idea, but I don't know his name. I only have a little bit of information about him. I think I was on the right track, though, and that's why those men attacked me."

"The ones you had planned to kill anyway?"

"Yes, them."

"Right." Jake eased the car into the garage and killed the engine. "Look, I have about a thousand questions for you--"

"Well, I have quite a few of my own for you," Hades said.

Jake blinked. "Right. But we need to get you cleaned up. Let's get inside, and then we can play 20 questions, alright?"

Hades looked at the door to the house and sighed quietly. "That seems very far away, but yes, alright."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for Hakkai covered in blood and Gojyo being too busy saving him to worry about his own safety. Their session of twenty questions will be a separate chapter but it's still in extreme WIP stages.


End file.
